THE ONE EXCLUSIVE WITH INJI

INJI is everywhere right now, and for good reason: I can’t get enough of. Her lyrics are fresh and swagg, and she’s creating a buzz with every new music she releases. We had the chance to sit with her while she was in tokyo, she talks about her music and on tour now and she talks about motivation for her crazy songs, let’s dive in on how she is became so a buzz on social media, and why everyone should get to know her and check out her music.

INJI: I’m INJI, an electronic dance pop musician from Turkey. I’m 22 years old and live in the United States

FUSION: What happened and how did you get started?

INJI: It’s a hilarious story how I got started in the profession. I was at school studying finance, and myself and a few friends wanted to produce some music, and we decided to do this extremely humorous song that just put my heart out there since I didn’t expect anyone to listen to it. I had never done music before I placed a short video on TikTok and the song simply goes and since then I am a musician lovely to chat to so let’s go more expanding on the song gaslight

FUSION: Let’s speak about gaslight a little more. I know you said it was a joke, but tell me more about how she got started with gaslight. What inspired the creation of Gaslight?

INJI: Yeah, so there are two sides to this response. The inspiration for the music comes from my mother, who is a very energetic woman who likes to dance, and I kept giving her songs that were passionate and beautiful, and she would just be like, “Can you make me dance around, can you make me jump and down?”

I was like OK mom, I’ll make you an electronic dance song and the lyrics the inspiration was I was pretty heartbroken and there was a boy that I wanted to do really bad things to and I just wanted to let that anger out and I know so many girls my age have that experience so I was like what would I do in an ideal world to this boy who was mean to me and I was like I’d be mean back to him so I said gaslight gatekeep call his new ***** mainstream all that

FUSION: What was the reception like once this song went viral and was all over the internet?

INJI: Yeah I received a lot of messages, mostly DMS, at first. It was messages like, “Why didn’t you keep the British accent because the viral video I was singing the song in a British accent as I said because it was a joke and the song when something like this;

“I walked in the club everything changed when I walked in the club” After that, everyone asked why I changed it, and I responded, “I don’t know, I didn’t want to lie.” The other comment I received all the time was, “Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted to say to this person who broke my heart.” I had a lot of people connecting with me and saying this really makes me feel empowered and confident and like I can take this power back from someone who was mean to me and that really made me feel so happy because at the end of the day, that’s why I made the song so I could express myself and feel better so I’m so happy that everyone who listened to it could feel a little bit better too.

FUSION: Talk about how did “THE ONE” came to be?

INJI: The song’s lyrics are simple: “I’ve got two or three lovers, four or five fellas on my mind, seven blowing up my line, eight or nine telling me I’m fine, but I just need the one, nine telling me I’ve got to go find the one,” implying that the problem isn’t an absence of potential partners but rather that no one is quite right. I think this song is all about no one can really ever meet that perfect person

FUSION: What was the insperation for that song?

INJI: My songs are co-written by heist and I; we work together frequently; he’s fantastic. The song “the one” was inspired by my desire to document my feelings upon finally meeting “the one.”

FUSION: Let’s have a MADALINE discussion.

INJI: This is another hilarious tale. The girl’s name is Maddie, and she’s a crazy one, and I know everyone has a Maddie in their friend group; last year, I was in college and I and my friends—especially Maddie, the actual Madeline—went out and had a crazy night, came back, and the next day we wrote the song about everything that happened that night.

FUSION: OK so tell us more about the dif- ficulties you faced as a musician and how you overcame them.

INJI: The fact that this is my first cover for a magazine like Fusion isn’t why I’m so ecstatic about it, though; rather, it’s because I am the embodiment of bringing together Turkish, British, and American cultures, and so the magazine’s mission and I couldn’t be more perfectly aligned.

FUSION: Last but not least, what message do you hope listeners take away from your music?

INJI: What I’m trying to say with my music is that we don’t have to take life so seriously. You can see how the music is kind of tongue in cheek; it’s supposed to make you giggle and laugh and dance around and scream. As I said, I want my songs to make you feel happy, proud to be yourself, and excited to face the world.

FUSION: Where do you find the most difficulty while composing music? for all of you who believe it’s simple?

INJI: In times of creative block, I like to lock myself in a room and tell myself, “No one is hearing anything I’m writing right now; it can be bad; it can be horrible; I’m just going to get it out of my brain.” The worry about whether or not your lyrics will be accepted by the general public can be stifling, but I’ve found that when I’m able to write freely and without worrying about what others will think, that’s when the best ideas emerge.

FUSION: Any final thoughts for the audience?

INJI: I appreciate your presence here with FUSION, and I hope Japan invites me back because I want to come back and perform a show here, so I hope you’ll listen to me nicely.

INJI: When you first start getting some attention, it can be hard to keep believing in your music and not let the comments on your videos discourage you. I’ve found that knowing what I want to say, who I want to say it to, and trusting that the right people who want to hear that will get the message has helped me immensely.

FUSION: What motivates you to work in the music business?

INJI: My motivation began with my mother, and I began composing music to make her dance. Now, I want to make millions of people dance, jump about, scream, feel joyful, let go, and see the hilarious and charming side of life.What motivates you to work in the music industry?

FUSION: Describe what it was like for you to visit Japan.

INJI: I’ve been to Tokyo and Kyoto, and the culture has completely blown my mind. It’s so different from the United States and Turkey and everything else I’ve seen, but I’m completely smitten. I’ve gotten so many ideas from these places and jotted down so many little notes that I think you can probably guess what kind of song will be inspired by Japan.

FUSION: What about being featured in Fusion Magazine?

INJI: Thank you so much check out my music for anyone that loves Dance!